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I think your reaching... The players play, they play hard (sometimes).. not always smart, not always good.. but they play. I think they respect Jerry, you think they don't. That's fine but your gonna have to offer up some comments from players as proof in order to get me on board.... other wise its just a conspiracy theory.

I mean I get that current players are mum.. they are on the payroll and not foolish enough to bad mouth the owner.. but ex players, players that are long gone would not have much to lose by coming forward and bad mouthing Jerry but I don't see that happening.. what gives?

I don't expect all pros at every position. It seems like we go from feast to famine in terms of the quality of player at the top end of the team vs. the rest of the club. But let me quote from an attached Bob Sturm article to better articulate my position. I pulled several sections from the article below. Jerry can't coach nor can he execute the plays. But he is largely responsible for the debacle that we are witnessing. The buck stops with him.

"Once upon a time, the Cowboys organization set the pace for excellence in the league. Playoff regulars and a team that amassed division titles, playoff wins, and Super Bowls for much of the first 35 years of its existence has now hit such a drastic wall that nearly every fan of the team can recite the horrible facts:"

"In 15 years, the Cowboys have 1 wildcard playoff victory. One. That's one more than the Muncie Flyers and the Canton Bulldogs, but given that those teams folded shortly after World War 1, that would clearly not be a very large consolation."

"Mental toughness is a great tie-breaker when talent is equal, but in this space, the premise is that the Cowboys have some very impressive top end talent, but not nearly enough strength on their roster to win a game like the contest that was asked of them on Sunday Night in New York."
"This team fails in December for one primary and simple reason: The roster doesn't contain the quality personnel that is required to sustain the assaults of a 16-game campaign in the NFL."

"The truth is that the Cowboys have enough talent on the top of their roster to compete with some of the best teams in the league. Romo, Ware, Witten, Austin, Ratliff are a very solid "Top 5". Bryant, Lee, Murray, Smith, and Jenkins are a reasonable 6-10 on a roster. But, then the drop-off begins on the roster. And if the season was just 8-10 games long, they would likely be able to hang in there."

"The premise that Romo, Ware, Ratliff, and Witten can drag this team up and down the field with so many passengers is just nonsense. The title contenders in this league are not 5-strong. They are 53-strong."

"This is not a Tony Romo, Jason Garrett, or Rob Ryan issue. They should share in the blame, but this largely remains a Jerry Jones issue. He has built a stadium that can host a Super Bowl. But he sure hasn't built a roster that can play in one."

"Players play. Coaches coach. And the General Manager is fully responsible to make sure his team is 53-strong. Playing a Giants team in a winner-take-all scenario on Sunday Night revealed a similar result that a showdown with the Eagles in 2008 and the Vikings in 2009 demonstrated: This organization is a long way from being where their fans are used to being back in the glory days."

So you know who the second string NT was when Pitssburgh won their second with Big Ben? How about who New Orleans' 3 starting linebackers were? Or their nickel corner? Hmm..how about who the Giants were starting at safety when they won it last year?

Point is, even if you know the names from hearing/seeing them, the player is still an unknown nobody camp-fodder who was thrust into a bigger role. And likely didnt play well almost ever, but stayed in ther position and let the stars do their thing. Again, we have more than what many teams win SB's with, star wise. And behind the stars, I dont think many teams have better or worse than most - as most of those players are recycled all around the league or out of the league in 3 years.

When the Cowboys were stacked with talent deep in the depth chart, the salary cap was non-existant and you could pay what youw anted for whomever you wanted. The advent and re-advent of the salary cap era has forced EVERY team to just stick two-bit nothings in at second and third on depth charts and hope for the best. Not just Dallas.

While I get the point, it's like an annoying song they keep playing over and over on the radio. It's just being repeated because it's popular to do so._________________

I mean I get that current players are mum.. they are on the payroll and not foolish enough to bad mouth the owner.. but ex players, players that are long gone would not have much to lose by coming forward and bad mouthing Jerry but I don't see that happening.. what gives?

I have to believe many players who were coached by Tom Landry weren't exactly ecstatic about the way he was dismissed.....So, I would have to say many spoke their minds at that time.....I believe Jimmy Johnson's relationship with Jones was strained when he left, and when was the last time any body has heard about Barry Switzer (nationally)?

I wouldn't say Dallas' organization is a joke, but it certainly isn't the feared and respected team it once was.....When Troy Aikman, Emmet Smith, and Michael Irvin were playing, I shuddered when Green Bay played the Cowboys.....However, that certainly has change.....We not only can compete with Dallas, but I expect us to win....Whether we're home or not....

When did Schram or Landry ever attempt a trade where they gave a superstar for a bunch of draft picks? The answer is never. Landry was loyal to a fault, a fact which he was loved for. But nevertheless further proves Jimmy credit on the deal. You could say Jerry, except Jerry has tried to repeat the big trade deals numerous times after Jimmy left and with catastrophic consequences, namely the Deion trade which put us in salary cap hell, Galloway, Roy Williams, etc and so forth.

And what does Landry and Schram developing a Europe league have anything to do with the conversation? Did you know that the Cowboys were in danger of losing their franchise to the already then popular Dallas Texans which later became known as the Kansas City Chiefs?

I am on the side of Jimmy was the catalyst behind the 90s SBs, not Jerry.. but I do take issue with a few of your comments..

You asked WHEN did Schramm and Landry EVER trade a Superstar for a bunch of draft picks.. never??? Those of us who have been around a while remember exactly when the Cowboys traded their BEST RB Duane Thomas and ROY not once but twice! For draft picks..

I also remember Landry cutting a player, a good player, the BEST LB on the team, Hollywood Henderson. Landry was NOT LOYAL to a fault.. he was loyal but he was football first.. if you could not help the team or you hurt the team more than you helped, you were GONE! PERIOD!.

I also do not understand this statement; "Did you know that the Cowboys were in danger of losing their franchise to the already then popular Dallas Texans which later became known as the Kansas City Chiefs?"

I was not around the early 60s but I never read the Cowboys were ever in trouble because of the Texans.. I know they had to compete with them for PLAYERS and they shared the Cotton Bowl as their home field.. The Cowboys and Chiefs both began playing in 1960 so how could the Chiefs already be more popular? They both played in the Cotton Bowl and the Texans out drew the Cowboys 2 of the 3 years they shared the same home.. but they didn't out draw them by MUCH despite having a far superior product.. including the AFL Champions in 1962.

The Texans won 12 games in 1962 including the AFL Championship. The Cowboys had only won 9 TOTAL Games from 1960 through 1962 yet the Texans had only a slight edge over the Cowboys at the box office... If the Texans couldn't at least double the Cowboys attendance when they had the best team in the AFL while the Cowboys had the worst in the NFL, Lamar Hunt knew he stood no chance against the Cowboys if they ever started to win.. It turns out, Lamar Hunt was a genius. He moved the Texans to KC just before the Cowboys went on a 20 season winning streak!

I wont say the Texans were ever in trouble but they certainly were not turning much of a profit in Dallas and competing with the NFL's Cowboys was a losing proposition. So, they moved to KC.. if the Cowboys were the team in trouble, it seems that they would have moved.. but what do I know..

Correct me if I'm but wasn't it an off the field issue why Henderson was cut? Landry was a no nonsense guy, and he was loyal to players even after their prime unless of course they embaressed the team which Landry considred disloyalty and that's when he got rid of them.

And the Texans from what I remember hearing, had some very popular star power players while the Cowboys were struggling to maintain a legit active roster, their only major star player was Lilly. And if I am able I will find the article and post it, but typically football markets back then were very cuthroat when dealing with two teams in one area. The Texans with more commercial appeal and more success, the statement I read sounded logical._________________

Hollywood Henderson was cut about 3/4 of the way through the 1979 season. I want to say it was after a game vs the Redskins but it could have been the Eagles. Not exactly sure but the Cowboys were being beaten soundly and sometime late in the 4th quarter, Hollywood was seen cutting up with the fans and waving a towel. The towel was actually a marketing item (like the Steelers Terrible Towel) that was the brain child of Preston Pearson.. (I think).

Anyway, after the game Landry cut Henderson. This incident was used as the excuse but everyone knew it was simply the last straw.. Henderson had many many issues, all drug related, that had not been made public yet.

Henderson returned in 1980 with a couple different teams (SF and Houston) but an injury ended his career in 1981 spring training with the Dolphins.. i think he broke his neck but can't remember that far back.